I was just curious as to what thoughts everyone has on why the White Sox are considered the black sheep of the American League?

We are at the level of Tampa Bay or another couple small market teams, but one can just sense the undertones in the announcers last night and occassionally let a couple remarks slip out in regards to the neighborhood, etc. The only person who I heard reach out and actually compliment the facilities, the White Sox, and MLB was Alex Rodriguez

It just seems strange that a team which was a charter franchise would rather not be discussed at all and it isn't about the lack of titles, since our friends at ESPN worship the Red Sox and Cubs. I really don't care what they think, just want to know why? At least we're not Met fans!3

pl8ump1012

07-15-2003, 08:37 AM

what you say is so true. I dont have an answer for you, but either way, welcome aboard! :D:

xil357

07-15-2003, 08:42 AM

Originally posted by fledgedrallycap
I was just curious as to what thoughts everyone has on why the White Sox are considered the black sheep of the American League?

We are at the level of Tampa Bay or another couple small market teams, but one can just sense the undertones in the announcers last night and occassionally let a couple remarks slip out in regards to the neighborhood, etc. The only person who I heard reach out and actually compliment the facilities, the White Sox, and MLB was Alex Rodriguez

It just seems strange that a team which was a charter franchise would rather not be discussed at all and it isn't about the lack of titles, since our friends at ESPN worship the Red Sox and Cubs. I really don't care what they think, just want to know why?

Welcome aboard. I humbly direct you to the http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19916 thread for a nice debate of the reason for the Sox getting dissed in the local and national media.

fledgedrallycap

07-15-2003, 02:07 PM

I was throwing around a few ideas with some fellow Sox fans at work today and JR's involvement with the 1994 strike was what we thought might have the most to do with why negative views are portrayed in the National beat towards the Sox. That strike caused a lot of problems not only with the fan base, but hit a lot of influential people in the checkbook - being ESPN, which ever network had the World series, etc.

By the way, touché to all you Sox fans who booed Joe Morgan during his introduction.

Konerkoholic

07-15-2003, 02:14 PM

Originally posted by fledgedrallycap
The only person who I heard reach out and actually compliment the facilities, the White Sox, and MLB was Alex Rodriguez

ARod seems like the greatest guy. He's a class act and possibly the hardest working player in baseball. Anyway, we hate the Cubs and Twins, the darlings of baseball, so we're the bad guys. Ligue and Dybas didn't help matters.

captain54

07-15-2003, 03:05 PM

Originally posted by fledgedrallycap
I was just curious as to what thoughts everyone has on why the White Sox are considered the black sheep of the American League?

:reinsy

Does that answer your question??

there was a time when the Sox were far more popular than they Cubs, believe it or not...

here is an owner that refuses to pay the market rate for some of the top players in the game, proven winners...

however, it's pretty much a mute point since there are tons of high quality players who refuse to even sit down at the bargaining table with Uncle Jerry...

Like Frankie sings "I did it my way", Reiney did it "his way" and built Comiskey II, and now has an outdated, ill-designed 13 year old mess...

Hangar18

07-15-2003, 03:40 PM

There are a couple other threads out right now that are
touching on this same subject, and I'll put my 2 Cents in on this.
This doesnt go out to anyone in particular (I love all my
whitesox brothers and sisters) but there are some who believe that the Medias Obvious Bias is something to be IGNORED and
laughed at, not to worry, the "problem" will Fix itself in due time
with just winning and championships. However, I dont believe this at all. This is what happens when you let the Media run wild with their Stereotypes of this team and its fans. Pretty soon enough, chump has-been and wanna-be writers start chiming in and begin to SPECULATE on the horribleness of the team and its park, not to mention its fans. At some point, A Japanese businessman, visiting Washington DC on business,
picks up the paper, and reads a "columnists" take on the SOX
and their fans, "bad" neighborhood and all, and takes that
lasting impression home with him. His wife and friends ask
what was the USA like, did he see any baseball games, and he
remarks he was busy, but he HEARS THAT SOX GAMES ARE BORING AND BAD PEOPLE go to the games, and soon, a little 8 yr old kid from Taiwan, hears from his cousin in Tokyo about how much fun baseball is, and they should maybe catch a game on Sattellite when they get a chance, and hey, lets Buy ourselves
a hat and some jerseys like the Major League Players have.
These kids go out and buy CUBS jerseys, because they Too HEAR HOw BAd Comiskey is, with people being carjacked right outside the stadium and how boring the park is anyway.... and WGN
and the Cubune soon talk about how Many More Cub Fans there
are in the world, and isnt it amazing, the Undying Devotion
there is WorldWide for them. And people say bad
publicity isnt such a bad thing ......

Mammoo

07-15-2003, 04:36 PM

Since the Comiskey's sold the club, there's been various ownership groups who have operated on a shoestring. Even when Reinsdorf took over and offered some stability, it always remained a mom and pop operation. Twice they were rumored to be leaving town, once when John Allyn owned them and then the Reinsdorf/Florida threat. It doesn't take much of that to build a bad reputation.

The aforementioned Comiskeys were no day at the beach either. They let the old park go to hell, never investing in preventive maintenance. Except for the early part of last century and that golden era in the 50's and 60's, there's not much to brag about.

I tell ya, baseball has changed so much, it really is sad, very sad. I miss the way I used to feel about it, the thrill of a Friday night game against the Yankees, Little Nell and Louie manning the Keystone, Jim landis chasing down gappers, Richie Allen hitting screaming line drives into the bullpen, Ralph Garr and Richie Zisk leading the hit parade, Harry taking a shower in center field.

It's all gone now!

Nellie_Fox

07-15-2003, 04:42 PM

Originally posted by Mammoo
Twice they were rumored to be leaving town, once when John Allyn owned them and then the Reinsdorf/Florida threat. It's actually been more than that. They considered moving to Milwaukee, actually playing some "home" games there after the Braves left. There was a threat to move them to Seattle to settle the suit brought about when the Pilots moved. Veeck looked into Denver, and finally there was the very real, almost happened St. Pete threat.

JJAustin69

07-15-2003, 04:46 PM

I think that the rise of cable television in the early 80's has contributed mightily. For the Sox it became a lose/lose situation. First of all Reinsdorf moved the Sox onto Sportsvision which was absolutely horrible for the regional fans. Secondly, WGN became a "superstation" and was packaged into most nationwide basic cable deals. So, if you were a Sox fan, you couldn't watch the team without paying extra for it but you got all the Cubs games. Nationwide, there were no Sox games except for the occasional "Game of the Week" whereas, all Cubs games were available. The double whammy being that the White Sox manage to alienate their fan base and cut their own throat in their own backyard by depriving most working class kids of seeing their games on TV at the same time that the Cubs go nationwide.

Gumshoe

07-15-2003, 05:06 PM

Indeed my friends, as has been said, there is one constant that has plagued us. It is not "bad luck" or "finding ways to blow it" or any other superstitious crap out there. It is one word:

OWNERSHIP

This has been the constant that leads you to believe that unless it changes, not much else will. It is ultimately responsible for everything you see around the ballpark, the team, the coaches, the image, EVERYTHING.

Comiskey was bad, Allyn didn't do much, Veeck traded away a pennant winning team, Reinsdorf is what we know him to be.

I only hope that KW is in a straightjacket at the end of the season and JR throws in the towel. THEN, we'll have a chance to win, a chance to be a consistent WINNER.

Gumshoe

fledgedrallycap

07-15-2003, 05:56 PM

Since we are on ownership and specifically JR, what is with the Houdini act he pulls every season. It is typical of the entire organization to boycott the media. I'm not saying that the media doesn't portray the White Sox as being second banana's, but the White Sox believe it and would much rather sulk and hide until something good happens when they can shove it back in everyone's face instead. Be proactive, let the common fan know you care

RKMeibalane

07-15-2003, 06:08 PM

Originally posted by fledgedrallycap
Since we are on ownership and specifically JR, what is with the Houdini act he pulls every season. It is typical of the entire organization to boycott the media. I'm not saying that the media doesn't portray the White Sox as being second banana's, but the White Sox believe it and would much rather sulk and hide until something good happens when they can shove it back in everyone's face instead. Be proactive, let the common fan know you care

Jerry Reinsdorf is a bitter, old man who doesn't care about anybody but himself. As for the rest of the organization, I think that most people want to win. Ken Williams has tried to find players to make the team better. The trades for Alomar and Everett prove that an effort to win is being made.

However, even when the Sox do something newsworthy, nobody in the media pays any attention. Yes, the trades got some publicity, but the publicity they receieved was a mix of positive and negative press. For every person who said something nice about the deals, someone else had to rain on the Sox parade.

This isn't the first time that the media has done this. For past ten years, they've managed to short-change the Sox every chance they've had. I think the Sox want to win, but a lot of the players and other members of the organization just can't seem to get past the idea of the Cubs having control of the city as far as baseball is concerned.

SluggersAway

07-15-2003, 10:06 PM

Oh my! The children of Taiwan! We must save the children of Taiwan from evil scrub indoctrination. Maybe if we were the Chicago Little Red Books, we'd get more respect.